Is Wikipedia just as good when the articles are written by a script?

by
in internet on (#3QQ)
story imageAt its core, it's a question of quantity versus quality, or the right to access information. But it's also a question about the role humans should play in an ostensibly human-edited encyclopedia. Here not to provoke those questions but simply to add information to Wikipedia is a Swede by the name of Sverker Johansson. He is single-handedly responsible for 2.7 million articles on wikipedia (8.5% of the entire site). But 'single-handedly' isn't quite right: he wrote and deploys a bot.
Mr. Johansson's program scrubs databases and other digital sources for information, and then packages it into an article. On a good day, he says his "Lsjbot" creates up to 10,000 new entries. On Wikipedia, any registered user can create an entry. Mr. Johansson has to find a reliable database, create a template for a given subject and then launch his bot from his computer. The software program searches for information, then publishes it to Wikipedia.

Bots have long been used to author and edit entries on Wikipedia, and, more recently, an increasingly large amount of the site's new content is written by bots. Their use is regulated by Wikipedia users called the "Bot Approvals Group." While Mr. Johansson works to achieve consensus approval for his project, he and his bot-loving peers expect to continue facing resistance. "There is a vocal minority who don't like it," he said during a recent speech on his work. Still, he soldiers on.
Complex questions are at play here: is it better Wikipedia lack articles that humans can't or won't write? Can robot-written articles be trusted? Should they be labeled and approved? What kind of criteria would be applied and who would fund/oversee this kind of oversight body? And lastly: is all this work even worth it in the first place? Do these bot-written articles even add any value to everyone's favorite information site?

More coverage at Business Spectator (Australia) and Popular Science.

My opinion (Score: 1, Interesting)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-07-15 21:51 (#2GZ)

is it better Wikipedia lack articles that humans can't or won't write?
Yes. As long as it's properly cited (not that many people look anyway) it's easier access to information. A starting point for further research.
Can robot-written articles be trusted?
No more or less than any other article. There are many reasons articles shouldn't be trusted, including paid editors, people with biased views, people with out of date information.. etc. You shouldn't take anything at face value, that's what citations and research are for.
Should they be labeled and approved?
Maybe the accounts should be labeled like payed editors are now supposed to be now. I don't see why they need more approval than a "real" person. If you find out a bot has reoccurring problems, ban it 'til it's fixed. Reverting and deleting isn't a major issue.
And lastly: is all this work even worth it in the first place? Do these bot-written articles even add any value to everyone's favorite information site?
The authors must believe it is worth it. You can't stop it. If people want to they will find a way to flood Wikipedia with whatever articles they want. By trying to limit them you will only inconvenience "real" users.
Post Comment
Subject
Comment
Captcha
Four + 9 equals ?